Top 10 Inexpensive Ways for Spending Quality Time with Kids!

Starting this Tuesday, I will be posting what I call ‘Top 10 Tuesdays’. Sounds interesting? Well, the idea is to post about Top 10 <something>, it could be anything.

I wanted the first post to be about something that is very important to me, and that is spending quality time with my little boy! Being a parent is no easy task, add a ‘Single’ to the word ‘Parent’ and it’s no wonder that the task feels almost impossible. With a mountain of responsibilities, limited resources and hardly any time it becomes very difficult to spend quality time with your kid/s. But these times that we spend with our kids is what remains etched in our memories for eternity. It is equally important for both you and your kid/s to have those memories.

When I realized that, I started thinking out of the box for ideas to that kind of quality time with my son even when I am on a budget. Here is my list of Top 10 Activities that I do with my son!

‘Catch-Up’ Time

Every evening my son and I have this thing we call ‘Catch-Up Time’. I start off by telling my son how my day went and what I did throughout the day. This makes my son feel very important! He feels like a ‘Grown up’. My son looks forward to this every evening. When I am finished, he tells me about his day. He gives me every single detail of what happened in class and lunch. Getting this information out of him was difficult before we started ‘Catch-Up Time’ because all I would get in response to “How was your day?” was “Yea, it was good! I had fun” and that was it. Although this may not seem like a traditional idea for an activity with your kids, you will be amazed at the response you will get from them. So do try it!

‘Crazy Dinner’ Night

This is a once a week activity when we have a ‘crazy dinner’. It can be as crazy as dessert for dinner or pancakes or waffles or anything! Of course my son gets to make the choice on this day and I let it roll. My son gets very excited putting on his chef’s apron, calls himself Chef Pablo – I have no idea who that is – and we get together cooking. He loves helping me cook and I love watching him all excited, acting as Chef Pablo. We then snuggle in the couch in front of the TV while enjoying our ‘crazy dinner’. Kids generally love this because they get to make the choice. Get ideas from Here

Go Riding or Swimming

If there is anything my son really enjoys, then it is swimming and biking, which is why I incorporated these activities into our schedule. We go biking almost every other day, helps keep us both active. And on the days we want to take a break from biking, we go swimming in the community pool. We have fun playing in the pool and swimming together! These activities are fun and you will create everlasting memories with your kid/s.

Game Nights

Kids love playing games, it could be anything like board games – my son loves monopoly, or pretend play where he is Spiderman and I am Green Goblet. We fight until of course Spiderman wins! Other times we are warriors and we have sword fights and wrestling matches! Be creative and come up with your own games to play or ask your kids to make a new game to play. You will be surprised with how creative their little minds can be.

Movie Nights

Once a week movie night is a ritual we both love. Our local theatre hosts movies for $5 every Tuesdays. We usually catch a 6.30 or 7pm show whenever there is an interesting movie that we want to watch. If not, we pop a DVD of any one of his favorite movies get some popcorn and snuggle in together in the couch. The latest addition to our movie night was ‘Ant-Man’

Camping in the Backyard

Whether it is in your backyard or a spare bedroom, kids love the idea of camping. Set up a tent and get your sleeping bags out and make it a date. My son loves to take his flashlight on our ‘camping’ date. He uses it to make shadow figures when we tell stories and read to each other before falling asleep in the tent.

Bowl Away

Bowling is a fun family game. It is something kids and adults enjoy alike. My boy is a huge fan of bowling, which is why, I am always buying deals from sites like Groupon. Buying the deals will let you enjoy the game for half the price and have twice the fun!

Take a Short Trip

Take a trip to the local fire station, kids never get enough of these. Ask the firemen to give a little tour, some may even let the kids climb into the trucks! You can also take trips to the zoo or museum or a nearby farm for outdoor fun. Pack a picnic basket to go along. You can unwind after the trip in a park nearby.

DIYs and Crafts

This is one activity where you can watch your creative little ones and guide them. If you do a quick search on Pinterest, you will get a variety of ideas to choose from. You can use materials like toilet paper roll, magazine papers, glitter glue, craft paper, gift wrappers and anything at your disposal. Make it a ‘Project’ and build something together! If nothing creative comes to mind, you can do a large size puzzle together. Do it once and then mess it up and do it again. Kids will love it that their parent is joining them in ‘messing’ things up for a change!

Enjoy the Weather

Go out for a walk together and enjoy the weather. If it is snowing have a snow fight or make a snow angel. If it is raining then watch the rain from your window or better yet play in the rain for a bit. Do some gardening together in spring or simply be outdoors soaking in the fresh air and talking!

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A Single Mom with an un-breakable passion to LIVE the Life! I am a Fighter, a Survivor! An Analyst by profession and a Writer by passion! Women Empowerment Advocate, Fights against Child Abuse and Violence against Women and Children!